Remote control for harvester reels



June 6, 1950 N. SIEVERDING REMOTE CONTROL FOR HARVESTER REELS Filed Feb. 8, 1949 Inventor o D Norbert S/everd/ng Patented June 6, 1950 f 211' ii-hhiszdnvention relates-to ar' r'emote control for ;a:;har.vestersreehand ihasfor its primary obj ect-to :zplace withinseasy reach ofz the-operator of a trac- L tOI'QtO aivhichtthesharvester 'is attnaiched means-by =parallel:iwitlm thei commonihorizontal axis about swhichfithe marvesterireel moves when being' -ad- :vjustedivertically; ispacedllift arms carried by and extendingzradiallyafrom the v rock shaft,' links connected'.toljtheilliftrarmsuand to the reel support- 1 mafia. (o1. 56-t-e222) 2 "one of the' arms-i 22; so a at i- "-a-rc on a eel s'upp "ed ori the narvestee 1 at 2 4, to swing about ing arms, a hand lever fixed to the rock Shan Fised to andfiextending radially from the rock and movable in-arr arc-'above the drawbar of the harvester, the: end: of theahand- -lever remote from the rock shaft being within easy reach of the operator of a farm tractor to which the harvester is coupled,and 'releasable' means carried by the hand lever and operable frpmathe end thereof remote from-the rock shaft for holding said-hand lever in various positions inits'arc of movement.

"Other features include an arm fixed to the rock shaft intermediate its ends and extending radially therefrom in a direction opposite the lift arms and a counterbalance spring coupled at one end to the last-mentioned arm and at its opposite end to the harvester for assisting in elevating the reel.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a side view in elevation of a conventional combine harvester showing this improved remote control coupled thereto, certain portions smart-:34: toward the forward encth tlie :maehine flare liftiarmsfiitwmh ich move vertical arcs-benew:their'eel suppertin iar zz giandroupl'ed to fi thetends bfcthe liftarms'fifi mote rom the rock Msnaf-tsseeareane lower ien'ds ror adjustable 338," theauppezr ends of 'which are pivotally eoupled,

as at 40, to the reel supportingvarms 2-2.5intermez diat'e their; ends @Itiwimtnustbe s that' 'as 'the azroclcoshaftzsh imoved about iitsiatki thei-llift 30 arms 36 will cause the arms 22 to swing about their common horizontal axis to raise or lower the reel 20. Fixed to one end of the rock shaft 34 is one end of an elongated hand lever 42 which rocks in a vertical are above the drawbar I4 and extends forwardly toward the forward end of the combine to a point within easy reach of the operator of a tractor to which the combine is coupled. Carried by the frame l2 of the combine ID in advance of the rock shaft 34 is an arcuate of the harvester being broken away more clearly 4o quadrant 4 W i h li adjacent the r hr u h to illustrate certain details of the invention.

Figure 2 is a bottom plan view of the platform of a conventional combine harvester, and

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the rock shaft and lift arms constituting a portion of my improvedreel-control device.

Referring to the drawings in detail, a combine harvester designated generally I!) is supported on a wheeled carriage [2 having a forwardly extending drawbar [4 which is provided with a conventional clevis It for connection to the conventional drawbar of a farm tractor. Mounted on the frame I2 of the combine harvester I0 is a conventional platform 18, above which a conventional reel is mounted to rotate about a horiwhich the lever 42 swings, and mounted on the hand lever 42 adjacent the quadrant 44 is a conventional latch 46 which cooperates with spaced openings 48 in the quadrant in holding the hand lever 42 in various adjusted positions about the axis of the rock shaft 34. Coupled to the latch 46 and extending along the hand lever 42 is an operating bar 50 which terminates near the forward end of the hand lever 42 and has connected 50 to its terminal remote from the latch 46 a hand u 52 and 56 are grasped, pull will be exerted on the control rod '50 to disengage the latch 46 from an opening 48 in the quadrant so that the hand lever may be swung about the axis of the rock shaft 34. It will thus be seen that the reel 20 may be moved to various positions about the common horizontal axis of the arm 22, and held in such position by the engagement of the latch 46 in one of the openings 48 of the quadrant 44.

In order to assist in the elevating of the reel 20, I provide the rock shaft 34 with a radial :arm 58 which projects in a direction opposite the lift arms 36, and coupled at one end to the arm 58 is a retractile coil spring 60, the opposite end of which is anchored to an eye 62 carried by the bracing frame 64 of the platform I 8. It will thus be seen that as the reel 20 is lowered by reason of the lowering of the lift arms 36, the spring 60 V will be placed under tension and will serve as a counterbalance to assist in elevating the reel.

In use, it will be understood that the combine in is coupled to a conventional farm tractor by connecting the clevis l6 to the drawbar of the tractor, and with the reel elevating mechanism in place, it will be obvious that the end of the hand lever 42 remote from the rock shaft 34 will be positioned within easy reach of the operator of the tractor. When it is desired to elevate the reel, the grips 52 and 56 are grasped by the operator and. pull is exerted on the control rod 50, thus releasing the latch 46 from one of the openings 48, and by moving the hand lever 42 upwardly or downwardly, it will be obvious that the rock shaft 34 will be moved about its axis to cause the lift arms 36 to move accordingly. When'the desired position of the reel has been attained, the pressure is released on the hand .grips 52 and 56, thus permitting the latch 46 to enter one of the openings 48 and support the reel at the desired elevation. In this way, the operator of the tractor has at his command instant control of the position of the reel 20 so that the harvesting may progress without requiring that the operator stop the advance of the tractor and climb down from the seat thereof to adjust the position of the reel 26. As a consequence, much time and labor is saved, with the result that greater production can be attained.

While in the foregoing there has been shown and described the preferred embodiment of this 4 invention, it is to be understood that minor changes in the details of construction, combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

Having described the claimed as new is:

In a combine harvester of the type having a wheeled carriage, a drawbar carried by the carriage for coupling to a farm tractor, a pair of reel-supporting arms pivotally carried by the carriage for movement in spaced vertical arcs about a common horizontal axis which lies transversely of the carriage and a reel carried by the reel-supporting arms to rotate about an axis invention, what is which lies parallel to the common horizontal axis, means for moving said reel-supporting arms in their respective vertical arcs and holding said reel in various adjusted positions relative to the carriage comprising a rock shaft to rock about an axis which lies below and parallel with the common horizontal axis, collars journaling said rock shaft, upstanding lugs carried by said collars for attachment to the carriage, spaced lift arms carried by and extending radially from the rock shaft, adjustable links connected to the lift arms and to the reel-supporting arms, a hand lever fixed to the rock shaft and movable in an arc above the drawbar, and releasable means carried by the hand lever and operable from the end thereof remote from the rock shaft for holding said hand lever in various positions in its arc of movement, an arm fixed to the rock shaft intermediate its ends and extending radially therefrom in a direction opposite the lift arms and a counterbalance spring coupled at one end to the last-mentioned arm and at its opposite end to the carriage for assisting in elevating the reel.

N ORBERT SIEVERDING.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 802,892 Sharp Oct. 24, 1905 1,452,282 Pearson Apr. 17, 1923 

